SportPsych30

Agh! Don't remind me. Doth phrase blinds me, away with thee.
 
Okay, I'm done with my piss poor attempt at playing a Hamlet character (don't deride me, I said piss poor).
 
Powerliftery16, please know there is no way you suck more than me! That is not possible. Would you like to know how much I studied for the test for my initial attempt at the GRE? I studied for 7 months. I took a Princeton Review course that taught me very little with instructors who only know how to spout vapid slogans and techniques without showing me how to solve the problem. Okay, that's over 1 grand wasted. I then spent months studying for the test in preparation for the exam date. However, this proved to be a fruitless endeavor as I was stricken with the worst cold or flu I have ever experienced as I was rendered bedridden for about 10 days. before the test. I was unable to get any studying done during that time due to my throbbing head ache. On test day I was rendered stupefied that I had no choice but to cancel my test scores. I then studied for another 6 months hoping I wouldn't get sick. Test day comes and I perform less than mediocre. I receive a 560 for Quaint (this was before ETS revised the test to its current state), and a 480 for Verbal. With a range of 200 to 800, I received a score of 480. I was beside myself. How the hell did I do so bad at Verbal after I spent hours, and I do mean hours studying vocab words. More importantly, I was surprised by my Quaint score. It was higher then expected. 
 
I apply to the programs and I get admitted to my preferred school. However, upon visiting said school I find it not to my liking (it was a Master's program), and decide to reserve the right to abstain from entering for a year (I forgot the phrase schools and students use, so I hope that sentence makes sense). I then decide I would like to enter another sub field and realize my scores from my previous attempt at the GRE were woeful. I then devote 7 months to studying for the GRE. I first started with Princeton Review's Cracking textbook. I studied for about 2 months until realizing the material did not, in any way, prepare me for ETS's textbook, nor did it prepare for ETS's Powerprep practice test where I received a 150 for verbal, and 149 for Quaint. I then resigned myself to failure before discovering this website and reading glowing reviews posted by other forum goers for Magoosh and Manhattan's respective products. I decided to buy said products to better myself. Another gamble, yes, but I felt it was a necessary one. This followed 4 months of agonizing studying where I poured through the books, performed practice questions, and went back to the same material that became new to me, adding to my ever growing frustrations. My practice scores were all over the place. A week before the test I took one last practice test where I received a score of 157 for verbal, and a 147 for Quaint. This discouraged me greatly and I was ready to resign myself to another failed attempt at the test. However, after composing myself, I decided to study as much as possible during the days I had left and poured through materials that covered areas I was weak at and areas that I had not devoted as much time as I should have. On test day, I did not have a great sleep and worried I would fail, despite my attempts at reassuring myself with "positive thoughts". During the test, I was a wreck. I worried I was failing, that I should just cancel after the test is done, that my heart was palpitating while I performed practice problems causing me to feel every heart beat, that another test taker was really cute and I would like to talk to her after the test...all of these thoughts went through my mind while I took the test every second of the way. Heck, when I opted to take my scheduled 10 minute break I forgot how to count 10 minutes and nearly started late as I only had 30 seconds remaining before the program resumed with the test. After completing the test, I had to ask myself that oh so dreaded question - "Do I cancel or accept my scores?" I decided to accept as I needed to see my actual scores to determine whether I would need to retake. I saw my scores and my mouth fell agape. I was shocked that I had done as well as I had hoped I would with a score of 159 (verbal) and 153 (Quaint). Those were my official scores after spending months on the test. One could even say years. That was the culmination. Powerliftery, you scored around the same area as I did with very little studying. Don't you think, if you applied yourself, you would exceed the scores you've received? It stands to reason that you would do great, and there's nothing wrong with attending a Master's program if that is what's necessary to assist in achieving your career goals. Many people who enter academia and go on to work in Ph.D programs are not necessarily smarter, they were just more willing to jump through the necessary hoops to get where they are now. We all just have to jump through those hopes to achieve success in whatever field we'd like to enter ( and for us, that's Psychology).
 
I will leave with this one video link to cement my initial point above -
 
I had a GPA of 3.1 in my undergrads due to a number of reasons. I have research experience, but have spent most of my life unemployed. I studied for the tests while being unemployed. I have no job right now. No girlfriend (I've never had a girlfriend, and will never have one unless I get admitted to a school away from home), and very few friends. Powerliftery, you cannot suck more than me so, please, "a little respect. For I am Constanza, Lord of The Idiots!"

I'm pretty sure that type of common app will never happen in psychology :-D. But I won't stop you from trying!

Wouldn't it be nice if we only had to write one statement, like those applying to Law School, as opposed to tailoring ours for each school and their unique requirements...

Amen...

I don't like when I see the 169-V GRE person asking if he/she needs to re-take and get a 170. Likewise, I don't like seeing the mile long research experience person that needs a pat on the back by asking if they "have a chance."

Reality is most of us have done the best we could with the situations we were in, and comparing with each other sucks, especially since we don't all get the same opportunities and luxuries. I for example play a sport, some need to work full time, others have children, etc.. We can only spread ourselves so thin.

Sorry for the rant, and best of luck to all the applicants! Remember, we are here to help each other, not to compare the size of our.... Vita's 

SP30

The only part that seems behind to me is retaking the GRE. I contacted POIs early October, finished statements sometime around then and edited for about a month. Leave time for lots of people to read your statements & give you feedback, preferably people in the academy. I struggled with staying calm.... I wouldn't compare yourself too much to the folks on gradcafe. You'll drive yourself nuts. 

Yeah, my school does the same thing, in that it will include the classes I'm currently taking. I just wanted to double check with other applicants. Thanks!

MCVCM92,

I'm in the same boat, but I know my UG school's transcripts will include which classes I'm currently taking. There is no way to include the grades. I don't think there is anything you can do, and I doubt that they would want you to wait. If you do bomb your last two semesters, they can always revoke their offer of admissions.

SP30

Well, practice tests give you a pretty good estimate of where you are at. Depending on your results, you may or may not have a reason to worry.

Beyond that, just relax and only worry about what you can control. Do your best to fine-tune this week, and go in there with a confident attitude and give it all you got.

The GRE is only part of you application, applications are only part of grad school, and grad school is only PART of life.  Relax

SP30

Well, practice tests give you a pretty good estimate of where you are at. Depending on your results, you may or may not have a reason to worry.

Beyond that, just relax and only worry about what you can control. Do your best to fine-tune this week, and go in there with a confident attitude and give it all you got.

The GRE is only part of you application, applications are only part of grad school, and grad school is only PART of life.  Relax

SP30

I also sat for mine today. In all of my many practice tests I had been doing awesome on Quant (160-164), and poorly on Verbal (150-155). I was so worried for the verbal section, but once I started it was the exact opposite! I choked on quant, just wasnt getting problems that I was well studied for. Luckily, I pulled a verbal score out of my ass that salvaged my results.

V-162   
Q-157  

I am confident that if I re-took, I would score 160+ on Quant, but I am equally certain that I would score <160 on Verbal. I am happy with my results, overall.

Newlyadmit, I think the best way that I was able to bump my score was to get some flash cards (Kaplan, in my case). I locked in on 500 of the most common difficult words. From there I "learned to love" vocabulary, and really paid attention to when I would read a GRE sounding word. It is impossible to learn every word that they can throw at you, but you can certainly get a good solid base. Additionally, the test comes down to "luck of the draw", meaning you may get questions with all words you know, and you may not recognize a single word. Such was the case with my quant section, and I am certain that I would do better if I re-took this.

I am always equally amazed at the 170 Verbal scores we hear about on this forum, but I hope that I helped you a bit.

I also sat for mine today. In all of my many practice tests I had been doing awesome on Quant (160-164), and poorly on Verbal (150-155). I was so worried for the verbal section, but once I started it was the exact opposite! I choked on quant, just wasnt getting problems that I was well studied for. Luckily, I pulled a verbal score out of my ass that salvaged my results.

V-162   
Q-157  

I am confident that if I re-took, I would score 160+ on Quant, but I am equally certain that I would score <160 on Verbal. I am happy with my results, overall.

Newlyadmit, I think the best way that I was able to bump my score was to get some flash cards (Kaplan, in my case). I locked in on 500 of the most common difficult words. From there I "learned to love" vocabulary, and really paid attention to when I would read a GRE sounding word. It is impossible to learn every word that they can throw at you, but you can certainly get a good solid base. Additionally, the test comes down to "luck of the draw", meaning you may get questions with all words you know, and you may not recognize a single word. Such was the case with my quant section, and I am certain that I would do better if I re-took this.

I am always equally amazed at the 170 Verbal scores we hear about on this forum, but I hope that I helped you a bit.

Newlyadmit,

Don't get discouraged pal, you even said so yourself that you didn't perform as well as you could/should have. That should be reason enough to motivate you to get back up on the horse and give this thing another whirl.  Three weeks probably wasn't enough time, especially since I see that English is not your first language. I've been surrounded by English for 20 years, and I studied dilligently for 4 months straight. I was fortunate enough to have the time available to me this summer, but I understand that this is not the case for everyone. Re-taking it will likely result in better performance. At least you will be less nervous and know what to expect.
 
Rooting for you,
SP30

People have already given good advice for long-term strategies, so I'll give some tips for the day of the test itself.
 
First of all, the Princeton Review book suggests that you do practice GRE problems the morning of the test as a warm-up. I didn't do GRE problems the morning-of, but I did do some logic puzzles to pass the time on the 1.5 hour bus ride to the test center (free Kindle games are great!). I think doing that definitely helped me to focus and get into the right mindset. I really, really like solving puzzles, so by playing puzzle games, I was able to convince myself that the GRE was just more puzzle-solving. By the time I started the test, I was actually really excited about the "game" I was about to play (and of course I wanted to win).
 
Second, the GRE has built-in breaks, but if you need longer, you can use the instructions screen for each section as a sort of bonus time to mentally prepare. Basically, before each section, they will give you a screen of instructions on how to do that section. If you found the previous break was too short, just stay on that page and don't start the section yet. I suppose it's possible it will eventually time out and auto-advance (I didn't test it), but I know at the very least it will give you an extra few minutes. Also, maybe I'm weird, but I found it comforting to read the instructions multiple times, even if I'd encountered that type of section before, because it gave me a "nothing I'm about to see will be unexpected, I can do this" sort of confidence. Hah, okay, I'm pretty sure I'm just weird.
 
Finally, don't get discouraged by tough sections! I know it's easier said than done, but keep in mind that it's entirely possible that the tough section is experimental and isn't going to affect your score at all. My very first section was a super brutal quant section, and I was sure I was doing horribly. The next quant section I hit was way easier, and because the test is adaptive by section, I was convinced that I had been put into a lower score band. Then I hit a third quant section, which was also fairly easy, and it occured to me that the hard one might've been experimental. Don't let a possible experimental section stress you out and cause you to lose confidence!
 
For the record, my scores were 165V, 170Q, 4.0AW. Hope these help at least a little, and good luck!!!

Transcripts: this is actually one of the first things I did. I actually had SIX places to send transcripts from (undergrad, study abroad, master's program, and then night classes at 3 different places over the years). You have to check each institution. Some of my transcripts were free, some were $10 each (including shipping). I applied to 12 schools and I probably spent about $300 on transcripts. The cost for transcripts is usually very easy to find out on their websites. I sent them super early so that later on in the process, I could check that they all arrived and re-send any that I need to. When two inefficient institutions meet, things get lost easily :-D. Also, it's easier to do all at once- if you're applying to 10 schools, you can just copy each institution's form 10 times and send them all in together. Keep in mind that some schools don't open their app til September- I'd say mid-to-end September is an appropriate time to start sending in transcript requests.
 
For your CV: you already have the position, so add it. Put in the dates, and I would feel free to talk about what you will be doing. For example, "Will be managing xx study with xx participants blahblah". You should probably get your CV in a fairly final form now, and then update it right before you submit apps with any additional accomplishments/skills. But you don't have to do your final update until November or so.
 
SOP: start now. Mine probably took about 4 months to perfect, and I had about 10 people read it (some twice). Throughout the whole thing and selectively taking people's feedback, it evolved significantly from start to end. You already know what you will be doing in your new role, and you should already have a sense of what you want to do for grad school and your career (or else you shouldn't be applying). You can add in some details, an extra paragraph, or change around wording as you go and spend more time in research, but I'd DEFINITELY start now.
 
Master's programs: each program is different. Some master's programs are NOT mentor based, so you do not need to contact POIs. Some are, in which case, the same faculty members tend to be available to mentor PhD or master's students. That being said, usually it is the less-established faculty who are required to take master's students at these institutions. But there's no harm in asking.

This is really all you need to know about Canada.

Go Nucks Go!